


Nuka-World

by wilddragonflying



Series: Fallout Fic [12]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Spoilers, spoilers for Nuka-World DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 01:18:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17478557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wilddragonflying/pseuds/wilddragonflying
Summary: Kaili makes her way back to the place that started her down the path of her life.





	Nuka-World

”Hey, Preston,” Kaili calls, moving closer to the Minuteman. “Have you ever seen this channel on the radio before?” She moves her arm so that Preston can take a look at the Pip-Boy’s screen, where it’s on the Radio tab and currently displaying a new radio station: Nuka-Cola Family Radio.

Preston frowns thoughtfully. “No, I haven’t; it doesn’t look familiar?”

Kaili shrugs. “Something about it rings a bell, but…” She trails off, and then decides the hell with it, they might as well take a listen. Worst case scenario it’s a repeat of that stupid Cappy song that was on the television commercials all the  _fucking_  time back before the War. It’s not the Cappy song, but it is something that Kaili remembers vividly.

_”Hiya kids! Remember, Nuka-World is only open for a few more weeks in October. Come down and see me and Cappy one last time before buckling down for the winter. Don’t forget to bring your empty bottle of Nuka-Cola, to get 50 dollars off at the gate. So hop aboard the Nuka-Express and come and see the whole Nuka-family while you still can._

_”The Nuka-Express is accessible through the Nuka-World Transit Center, parking fees will apply. Prices are subject to change, due to end of season. Nuka-World, Nuka-Express, and the Nuka-Cola characters are all registered trademarks of the Nuka-Cola Corporation.”_

”I remember that - Nate and I made plans to take Shaun, when he grew up a bit,” Kaili says, dazed, as memories she’d almost forgotten flooded back. “Hell, I went there myself once, the year it opened. 2050, Jesus. It was just the two areas, Nuka-Town, USA, and Kiddie Kingdom, but they were already planning more. Me and some friends went together, and it was pretty impressive.” That was probably showing her age - in 2050, Kaili had been eighteen, and it was the year before she would join the military. God, that had been a lifetime - almost literally - ago. She’d been young and optimistic, and it had actually been in the Nuka-Cade, playing one of the shooting games where the targets were pulled across the backdrop that she’d first had the thought that maybe she could become a sniper of some sort; she’d hit every target, even if most of them hadn’t been bullseyes.

Preston’s still thinking. “You going to investigate?” he asks, in a way that implies he already knows the answer.

Kaili grins. “Of course I am. But Nuka-World’s a way off, so I want you to head back to the Castle. Need my second-in-command to stay here; I’ll take Dogmeat with me.”

Preston’s clearly not pleased with this, but he relents. “Fine. But you’ll check in with Radio Freedom?”

”Of course,” Kaili promises. “And I’ll be careful, promise.”

* * *

It was easy to clear the Gunners from the outside of the Nuka-World Transit Center, and Kaili kept getting hit with deja-vu as she made her way towards the monorail, Dogmeat at her side. The German Shepherd was the first to spot the man laying on the ground near the monorail, and he barked, drawing Kaili’s attention to him. The woman swore under her breath, keeping Deliverer unholstered and at the ready; she’s seen too many ambush setups in her time, and something about this doesn’t seem right. As soon as the stranger clocks her, he starts speaking. “Jesus, shit - they’re gonna die, please - “

”Easy,” Kaili says, glancing around as she carefully straightens out of her crouch. “Who’s going to die? What happened to you?”

”Raiders, that’s what,” the man spits. “Name’s Harvey; those bastards have my family - my wife, my little girl - please, you have to help.”

”Are  _you_  okay?” Kaili presses, still suspicious.

Harvey laughs, then coughs. “I’ve seen better days, but it’s my family I’m really worried about - when the Raiders realize I’m gone…” Here his voice rises in what Kaili thinks is supposed to be distress, but there’s something off about it.

”Tell me what happened,” Kaili requests, looking for holes in Harvey’s story that could help her figure out what’s really going on here.

”We ran into some traders a while back, told us about a safe trader settlement in Nuka-World,” Harvey starts. “So we headed that way, but - it was a set up all along. Raiders were waiting for us, captured us. I managed t escape, jump on the monorail, but my wife and son are still back there.” _Ah-ha,_  Kaili thinks, though she’s careful to keep her expression neutral as Harvey continues his story. “I wanted to get help and go back, but I didn’t count on taking a bullet.” Here he grimaces, breath hitching, but there’s no fresh blood under the hand he has pressed to his gut, and Kaili’s certain now that he’s just acting.

Still, she rummages through one of the pouches clipped to the harness underneath the battlecoat she’d stolen from Maxson when he’d gone on another of his stupid rants, pulling out three stimpaks. “I’ve got plenty more; here, take one.”

”No, you should save them - “

”I have plenty more, I can spare one to heal your bullet wound,” Kaili insists. “No one’s that self-sacrificing, that they’d pass up a stimpak that could heal them in order to survive to see their family again. Remind me, is your kid a boy or a girl?”

Kaili can tell from the look on Harvey’s face that she’s caught him. With a sigh and a true grimace this time, he pushes himself to his feet. “Damn it, fine - you got me. Look, there really are Raiders back at Nuka-Word, and they put me up to this, luring in travelers. Pretend to be injured, spin some sob story, and then the Raiders kill ‘em for fun. I’m done doing their dirty work, though. I’ve had enough; let ‘em find me and do whatever they want. I’m done.”

”Why help them in the first place?” Kaili asks curiously.

”Besides not wanting to die? My life ain’t the only one at stake here; there are traders back at Nuka-World, all under the Raiders’ thumb. I don’t pull through, the Raiders will kill ‘em. I figured what’s some stranger’s life compared to the life of those I actually know and care about?”

Kaili takes a deep breath; seems like she’s stumbled onto another hostage situation. She seems to find those a lot, but at least she knows how to handle them. “Let me help,” she says, coaxing. “I’ll go to Nuka-World, face the Raiders; you don’t have to die.”

Harvey stares at her like she just spontaneously grew another head. “Are you - You are. You’re serious. All right, you wanna go walking in there, just be warned it ain’t no fuckin’ walk in the park, alright?” He reaches into his back pocket, pulling something out. “Here, this is the password to the control terminal; I cut the power to the monorail to help sell my story. Once you’re on your way, just remember to be careful; you’ll be walking into the biggest Raider camp this close to the Commonwealth.”

Kaili grins. “They’re still Raiders; I’ve dealt with plenty.”

”Not like these, you ain’t,” Harvey says with confidence. “Be careful.”

Kaili restores power to the Nuka-Express monorail and climbs aboard, Dogmeat following faithfully at her side as she activates the controls, heading for Nuka-World for the second time in her life. The announcer’s recording comes on, and Kaili tunes it out as Nuka-World comes into view. “Damn,” she murmurs. “They really expanded.” There’s four new parks that she remembers hearing about - besides Nuka-Town and Kiddie Kingdom, she remembers hearing about The World of Refreshment, Safari Adventure, Dry Rock Gulch, and the Galactic Zone. Approaching the park, she can just make out the top of some abandoned ride construction project when there’s a sharp burst of static that makes Dogmeat whine and Kaili jump. “Well,” a voice purrs, and Kaili immediately unholsters her gun, glancing around. “Look who learned the truth and still decided to show up. I guess Harvey played his cards right after all. I only got a minute, so you better listen, and listen good.” Kaili grits her teeth, but does as she’s told. “The name’s Gage; Porter Gage. And our friend Harvey only told you half the truth. You’re still walking into a deathtrap. But, if you somehow make it out alive, I have an interesting proposition for you. In the meantime, have fun, and put on a good show! I’ll be watching.” With another burst of static, the voice - Gage - signs off, and Kaili rolls her eyes.

”Lovely,” she mutters. “Kaili, what the hell have you gotten yourself into now?” Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much time to ruminate on that, because the Nuka-Express has docked.

As soon as she steps off, there’s another - different - voice coming over the announcement system. “Attention, all my favorite undesirables out there; in case you haven’t noticed, we’ve got some fresh meat here, ready to run the Gauntlet!”

_Oh, Christ._

* * *

The Gauntlet turned out to be named with more intimidation than the actual event itself; Kaili just kept her eyes open and paid attention to Dogmeat, and she didn’t even have to use one stimpak the entire way. “Wow,” Kaili says as she ducks through the door from the open area where Raiders had been taking potshots at her; she’d returned the favor with a few shots of her own, including one right between a Raider’s legs that would leave him unable to ever have children if he survived the shot itself. “Christ, that’s what you people call challenging? I’d have named it The Cakewalk if I didn’t know any better.” She laughs as the announcer splutters over the speakers, making her way down a short hallway to a locker room.

”You’ve got balls, and you’re talented,” a voice says, coming from an intercom on a wall; Kaili recognizes the voice as the same one that addressed her on the monorail, the one belonging to Gage. “You interested in that proposition I mentioned earlier?”

Kaili shrugs. “Yeah, sure; why not?”

”Right. You see the guy in the Power Armor on the other side of the glass?” Kaili steps over to the glass, easily finding the guy in question. His armor is connected to one of the rods that originally connected a bumper car to the ceiling, and he’s somehow managed to modify the arena to provide electric current to his suit via the rod.

”Oh, Christ,” Kaili groans. “Please tell me he hasn’t figured out how to make an electromagnetic current that repels bullets on that Power Armor.”

”Can’t do that,” Gage answers. “Look in the lockers; I hid a little helping hand for you.”

Kaili does as bid, and finds a full Thirst Zapper squirt gun. Testing its weight in her hands, she heads back over to the intercom, punching the two-way button. “So, let me guess: Since it’s an electric current running over that suit, you want me to hit him with this?”

”Yeah. Short out the suit - “

”Short him out, too,” Kaili finishes. “Well, it’s worth a shot. Only thing I’ve got to lose is my life, right?”

”That’s the spirit.” There’s a click, and a security door opens. “Give him hell.”

Kaili steps into the arena, and the guy in the supped-up Power Armor immediately starts monologuing; Kaili, already sick and tired of his showboating - she’d bet all the caps she had that the Gauntlet had been his idea, now that she’s seen how he’s been peacocking around the empty arena - groans theatrically. “My God, I survived the Gauntlet, but hell, your chatter might just do me in from boredom,” she taunts. She can’t see past the helmet, but from the way the suit of armor goes eerily still, she knows her words hit. “What the fuck are you even wearing, anyway? It looks like you took a Power Armor frame and welded chicken wire to it.”

”Why you little - “ There’s a crackle as the guy steps forward, and Kaili can see the electricity sparking over his armor, and she waits until the last minute to duck around him, coming up behind him to apply the full tank of water right onto where there’s an exposed wire that carries the electricity to the Power Armor. The suit jerks, and the guy starts cursing furiously; Kaili trusts her gloves to insulate her well enough to spin the handle to open the suit, grabbing with one hand and yanking. The suit freezes, then opens, and right as the guy looks over his shoulder, Kaili grins, raising Deliverer. “Hi; you kinda forgot one thing when you were designing this peacock suit. The more elaborate the design, the more obvious the flaw.” Before he can open his mouth, Kaili pulls the trigger. Her bullet catches him in the cheek, traveling on a diagonal to cut through his brain and punch into the top of the inside of the Power Armor helmet, leaving a sizeable dent along with bits of bone and brain matter. The newly-minted corpse slumps, falling backwards out of the Power Armor, and Kaili nudges it with her foot, exposing the sizeable exit wound in the upper side of the skull. She glances up at the stunned crowd, then grins. “Sorry to be all anticlimactic, but I’ve never been one to put on a good show. I don’t like following orders.”

She makes her way to the other side of the arena, standing expectantly in front of the only other exit as the disappointed Raiders shuffle out of their seats. There’s a man on the other side of the glass, and he offers her a grin as he opens the doors, letting Dogmeat leave the locker room to dart over to Kaili’s side, crowding her leg and clearly unhappy with being left behind in the locker room. “Sorry about all of that, but Colter needed to die, and you survived the Gauntlet. Figured you’d be able to take him out, especially after you figured out his suit so quick.”

”Uh-huh,” Kaili says, stepping through the door. “And who was he, exactly?”

”The former Overboss.”

”Former because he’s now dead, or because he’s been replaced?” she clarifies, suspicion growing. Gage better not answer with what she thought he was going to.

He did. “Both. Congrats, boss.”

Kaili groans. “If I’m the new Overboss, I want a goddamn drink before another fucking word comes out of your mouth,” she mutters. “That’s my first order as Overboss.”

* * *

Kaili gets her drink as Gage explains his plan; turns out, he was the power behind the previous Overboss, and he doesn’t want to be Overboss himself, but he does want to expand the Raiders’ territory to the rest of the park. He outlines his plan, and Kaili has to admit it’s a good one - except for the part where Gage mentions he wants to expand into the Commonwealth once they’ve retaken the park. Kaili frowns slightly, doesn’t comment either way, and Gage apparently lets it slide for now. Kaili makes her rounds as the new Overboss, decides that - if she  _has_  to like or favor any gangs in this damned weird situation she’s found herself in, she likes the Operators the best. There’s something about Nisha and her Disciples that gives her the heebie-jeebies, and she’s not entirely certain how she feels about the Pack.

In the marketplace, she makes small talk with some of the traders, and when she speaks to the local doctor, Mackenzie, she’s asked to consider putting the Raiders down. A glance around reveals no Raiders nearby, but Kaili lowers her voice regardless. “That’s what I’m planning on; just hold on for a little longer, all right? Keep your head down, play their game, don’t make trouble, and I’ll take care of the Raiders.”

Cautious hope blooms in the doctor’s eyes, but she clearly tamps it down. “All right. Do you want me to pass the word?”

Kaili shakes her head. “No; just in case something goes wrong.”

Mackenzie nods in understanding, and Kaili wishes briefly that she could tell her to spread the news, that the traders would be free as soon as she could manage it, but she doesn’t want to spread false hope, or risk someone deciding to rebel early and ruin her plans. “Good luck, boss.”

* * *

”Of  _fucking_  course the creepy shit is in mother _fucking_  Kiddie Kingdom,” Kaili growls, grunting with the effort she uses to bash Deliverer’s handle into the skull of a feral ghoul, knocking it away from her long enough for her to unholster the .44 pistol she’d taken from the man who’d killed her husband as she spins away from the ghoul, firing a round right into its face as they spin back to face each other, its mouth open in a hungry snarl.

Its head explodes, and Kaili barely turns her head in time to avoid the worst of it. “ _Damn_ ,” Gage breathes - though it’s more of a pant; he’d been beset by a couple of withered ferals, and his fight had been a bit harder than hers. “You, uh, got some bone on your cheek, boss.”

Kaili makes a face, wiping her cheek off on the shoulder of her coat. “Thanks. Come on, we’re almost to the castle. Time to find out just why this psychopath wants to douse us in radiation. My money’s on ‘he’s a ghoul.’”

Gage laughs. “Yeah, I ain’t taking a sucker bet, boss.”

Kaili grins. “Well, let’s go see if you’d have lost that money.”

* * *

”There is no cure!” Kaili protests. “Oswald, I know Rachel left, but she’ll have found the same thing everyone in the Commonwealth knows: There’s no cure for being a ghoul. You call it an Affliction, and maybe it is, but there’s no way to reverse the damage the radiation has done to your friends’ bodies.”

”So you admit my friends are sick, and yet you kill them anyway?” Oswald cries, seizing on that one detail.

”Your friends are what we call feral ghouls - humans so irradiated that they have lost themselves, they’ve lost what makes them human. They become no more than savage animals; you saw the way they attacked us. There is no cure for them, and they aren’t human anymore. I put them down as quickly as I could - that’s all anyone can do for them anymore.”

Oswald hesitates, but then his face twists in fury. “ _No,_ ” he snarls. “I refuse to believe there’s no way to save them - and I’ll kill you, then we’ll go find a cure ourselves!”

Kaili barely hears Gage’s muttered, “Here we go,” before the glow beneath Oswald’s skin flares a brighter, still-sickly green, and the ferals laying on the ground start clambering to their feet.

”Here we go,” Kaili agrees, pulling out Deliverer and inserting a fresh clip. “Keep the ferals busy, I’ll handle Oswald,” she orders, already running for a better angle on the ghoul magician.

The battle is relatively brief; Kaili misses her first shot, thanks to a lucky duck on Oswald’s part that made the bullet graze the back of his skull rather than passing straight through the temples. Kaili swears as Oswald disappears in a puff of smoke, tracking him to the other side of the room. In the time it takes him to reappear, she’s unslung her .308 from her back. When the smoke curls through the air, she sights through the scope, adjusting slightly as Oswald comes back into view and aiming for his head. She taps the trigger, controls the recoil, and taps it again in two headshots, and the magician slumps to the ground and doesn’t move. A couple more bullets take care of the ferals that Gage hadn’t already killed, and Kaili returns the rifle to its harness.

”You all right there, Gage?” Kaili asks, moving closer to the Raider and offering a stimpak and a RadAway capsule when she catches sight of the couple of wounds the ghouls had managed to inflict on him during the short fight.

”Nothing those won’t cure,” Gage says, taking the offered meds. “Nice shooting.”

Kaili grins, tipping an imaginary hat as Dogmeat sniffs at one of the corpses, sneezing. “Got a lot of practice,” she says noncommittally. “Come on; let’s put a flag up, let the Operators know they get the first piece of new territory, then we’ll head back to the market and resupply before tackling the bottling plant.”

* * *

It only took a couple of days to take back the rest of Nuka-World, as well as for Kaili to realize she was going to be in trouble when the time came to let Gage know who she really was and what her real plans were for Nuka-World. The Raider was unlike any other she’d ever met; he was more like  _her_  than anyone else she’d ever met. He’d told her about what first happened to him after he’d left his family’s farm, how he’d lost the eye, and they’d grown close, closer than Kaili would have thought she’d ever be able to get to someone after just a few days. He’d snorted but indulged her when she’d helped the Hubologists(though she didn’t buy into their ‘neurodyne’ bull), helped her track down the hidden Cappys to help Sierra complete the contest, had been a little freaked-out by what Bradberton had done to himself, but eventually, the time to tell the truth came.

It came after the night where, looking over Nuka-World from the patio of the Fizztop Grille, when Gage had confessed to her that he liked her - a lot. He respected and admired her, and appreciated what she’d done for Nuka-World. There’d been a moment where it had almost seemed like he was going to say something more, where he’d looked at her and gone quiet, something in his expression that Kaili could have placed if she’d wanted to. She’d interrupted it though, turned the conversation back to safer topics, and had resolved to tell him the truth the next day.

And now, that day had come.

Gage is grinning when he steps off of the lift, but it slips off of his face when he catches sight of Kaili and the way she’s holding herself. “Everything okay, boss?”

Kaili makes herself meet Gage’s eye. “We need to talk.”

”Is this about expanding? Because I talked to Shank, and he’s ready to move on that when you are.”

Kaili sighs. “That’s part of it. I don’t think it’s a good idea, Gage.”

”Why not? I thought that was our plan - “

”No,” Kaili interrupts, though she’s careful to keep her tone gentle. “That was your plan. Mine never included the Raiders moving beyond Nuka-World.”

Gage’s expression is guarded now, wary in a way he’s never been around her. “What are you talkin’ about, boss?”

”I can’t let the Raiders of Nuka-World into the Commonwealth, because that’d be turning on the people I’ve spent most of the past year helping - as General of the Minutemen.”

Gage openly gapes at her. “The  _Minutemen?_ ” he demands. “ _You’re_  the General of the group that’s managed to chase out most of the Commonwealth Raiders?”

”Yes,” Kaili says, keeping her head high. “Kaili Swesson is my name - I was a Vault Dweller, went in the day the bombs dropped and was held in cryostasis. When I came out, I ran into a group of the last Minutemen in the Commonwealth, and they promoted me to General. I took back their Castle, rebuilt it with even more fortifications than before, and rebuilt the Minutemen from the ground up. I’m not about to let Raiders mess up that plan, and neither will any of my men.”

”You never planned to let it get this far, did you?” Gage accuses. “You fucking - you  _used_  us.”  _Used me,_  is what he doesn’t say, but Kaili hears it regardless, reads it in the way he’s holding himself, as though Kaili’s confession has hit him right in the solar plexus.

”No more than you used me,” Kaili snaps, defensive. “You used me to get rid of Colter, and then the rest of the gangs used me to clear out the rest of Nuka-World without lifting a goddamned finger.”

And, well, Gage can’t argue with that. “Fine,” he bites out. “Then what are you going to do now? Clear out Nuka-World yourself, put a bullet in me?”

”I’m offering you three choices,” Kaili answers. “I’m going to clear out the Raiders, and whoever doesn’t run, I will put down - but you have options. You helped me beat Colter, you had my back the whole time we were taking back Nuka-World, one park at a time. You want a bullet right now, I’ll give you one - quick and clean, you’ll be dead before you hit the floor.”

”And my other two options?”

”You leave Nuka-World; I won’t put a bullet in your back, and if you come back after my men move in, you won’t be met with a bullet, but you won’t exactly be an honored guest, either. Eviction, I guess you could call it.”

A muscle in Gage’s lower jaw ticks. “And the last one?”

Here, Kaili lets her tone slip into something just the other side of pleading. “You give  _my_  life, my way of working, a try. I know you, Gage - you’re more like me than you want to admit. We both do what needs to be done, we’re both leaders, and I think you aren’t satisfied with the Raider’s life, not anymore. I’m offering you a chance to do something more with your life than just take what someone else has made for themselves. I’m offering you a chance to make something yourself.”

”I’m not going to help you clear out Nuka-World,” Gage snaps.

”I’m not asking you to,” Kaili answers. “I’m asking you to consider working with me some more - see the Commonwealth through the eyes of someone who isn’t a Raider. Things have changed, Gage; you’ve been gone for years, and things have changed a lot. Mostly for the better.”

”And if I choose the second one, then come back to take the third?”

”That’s fine,” Kaili says. “I really don’t want to have to kill you, Gage; I like you. Just don’t come back here looking for trouble, and no one will aim a weapon at you. Tell the guards who you are and that you want to speak with me, and they’ll let me know.”

Gage pulls in a deep breath, then nods. “I guess I have to decide now?” At Kaili’s nod, he sighs. “All right. Then I’m going to leave. Let me get on the Express before you starting shooting.”

”I will,” Kaili promises.

Gage doesn’t look at her as he gathers what few things he wants to take with him, and he doesn’t look at her as she and Dogmeat join him on the lift, or as he hits the button for the lift to take them down from the patio. They walk in silence until Gage is boarding the monorail, and even then Kaili breaks it only to say, “Be safe.”

Gage doesn’t look back as the monorail departs, and Kaili sighs as she turns back to Nuka-World, rolling her head on her shoulders to crack her neck before she heads back in, Deliverer in hand and ready to live up to its name, to deliver the traders from the scum who’d imprisoned them.

She cocks the gun, and then steps through the door.

* * *

It doesn’t take much, honestly - Kaili has more than enough clips for both Deliverer and her .44, and none of the Raiders in their different camps realize anything’s wrong when she enters them - not until she puts down the leader, anyway. First Mags and William Black, then Nisha, and then Mason, then the Raiders who’d been left to guard the rest of Nuka-Town. Once she tells Mackenzie that the traders are free, she heads for the power plant, clearing the ferals from it and restoring power to Nuka-World; apparently there’d been a fireworks prep show waiting to go, and watching the fireworks go off over the former amusement park feels bittersweet.

When she returns to Nuka-Town, she has to put down some of the remaining Raiders, but most of those left have already fled. She uses the Raider’s radio system to hail Radio Freedom, sending a message for Preston to send in reinforcements; when they arrive the next day, Kaili splits them up into five groups, and they sweep through the rest of the parks, clearing out any Raiders who haven’t already cut their losses and run. Hancock shows up with the next wave of Minutemen reinforcements, and Kaili feels no shame in literally tackling one of her lovers to the ground, wrapping herself around him as he returns the treatment, holding her close as Dogmeat jumps on them, barking wildly and happily. “I’m so fucking happy to see you,” she mutters, burying her face in his neck. “Jesus, this has been a rollercoaster - and if you crack a joke about being in an amusement park, I will crack your head against the ground, missing you or not.”

She can feel Hancock’s jaw moving against her cheek, and she guesses he’s guiltily closing his mouth. “I missed you, too,” he says instead, hugging her tighter to him. “Preston and I were worried when we didn’t hear from you for nearly a week.”

”There was some shit to sort out, I’ll tell you about it later,” Kaili mutters.

Hancock chuckles. “Well, is later gonna be on the dirt, or in a bed? Because let me tell you, Preston’s good, but there’s times where a man just wants - “

”You finish that sentence, I’ll leave you here in the dirt.”

”The… company of a woman?”

Kaili considers that for a moment. “Good enough. Come on, I gotta show you around, show you the place I wanna make into a settlement bigger than Diamond City.”

”Bigger than Diamond City, huh? Well, you got the land to do it on.”

”Right? Come on, you can see better from the Grille.” Kaili pushes herself off of the ground, hauling Hancock up with her. She can’t resist leaning in for a kiss, which Hancock grants easily. “God, I’ve missed you,” Kaili sighs, taking Hancock’s hand in hers.

The ghoul gives her hand a squeeze as he smiles. “Missed you, too.”

* * *

The Minutemen are by far some of the most efficient workers that Kaili’s ever seen; within a couple of weeks, every sign of the Raiders has been cleaned out and none of the traders have a collar anymore. Nuka-World has returned to being a bustling trading hub, and word-of-mouth and over Radio Freedom has already brought in a lot of settlers who have begun colonizing the rest of Nuka-World. Nuka-Town has already had every boarded building re-opened, and the newest settlers have begun moving in to the other parks. Caravans come through regularly, and when they leave they take word that Nuka-World is safe again, under the control of the Minutemen.

Kaili keeps her residence in the Fizztop Grille, turning it into an office-slash-apartment combo, and she’s kept busy working out the kinks in establishing a new settlement - hell, who is she kidding? Nuka-World is rapidly approaching ‘city’ status, and is bringing with it a lot of headaches. Some of the kinks she has to physically beat out, such as the troublemakers who try to prey on the market and its new patrons, but others are simply annoying, such as sorting out housing problems and civil disputes.

”I don’t know how the fuck you do it,” Kaili complains to Hancock one day while Preston is out back in the Commonwealth, checking up on the various settlements there. Normally Kaili would join him, but right now she’s needed more in Nuka-World.

Hancock laughs. “Goodneighbor was pretty much running itself when I became mayor,” he says. “I just have to settle the big shit. You’re founding Nuka-World, so you have to deal with  _all_  the shit.”

”Thanks,” Kaili says sarcastically. “So helpful, Hancock.”

Hancock opens his mouth to retort, but they’re interrupted by a burst of static coming from the intercom. “ _General, you there?_ ”

Kaili hits the button to reply. “Here; what’s going on?”

” _I’ve got a man here, says his name is Porter Gage and he wants to talk to you. Said he helped you clear out the other parks in Nuka-World._ ”

Kaili freezes, glancing at Hancock, eyes wide; he reaches past her to press the button to say, “Bring him up; the General will speak with him.”

”Oh my God,” Kaili breathes once the Minuteman has replied with an affirmative and signed off. “I didn’t - I mean, he said he might come back, but I didn’t expect him to. Certainly not this soon.”

”It’s been several weeks,” Hancock points out. “You want me to stay?”

Kaili hesitates, but nods. “Yeah. Please.”

Hancock smiles. “All right. I’ll stay over here, out of the way.”

Kaili takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Okay. Thanks, Hancock.”

Hancock nods, encouraging smile still in place. “Anything you need, babe.”

They wait in silence, Kaili constantly fidgeting, for the Minuteman to escort Gage up; Kaili only stills once the lift jerks into motion, disappearing down before slowly coming back up. The Minuteman gives Kaili a salute, which she answers with a nod as Gage gets off of the lift; the Minuteman leaves to return to his post, and Kaili finally looks properly at Gage.  _He looks good,_  is her first thought. He’s still wearing the eyepatch, but his armor is different. It looks like he scavenged it from a Gunner, and the armor he’d worn while they’d been clearing out Nuka-World is nowhere to be seen. He’s carrying himself differently, too, although Kaili can’t quite put her finger on the actual difference. She knows she likes it, though; it almost makes him seem more approachable. More human, maybe. “Gage,” she says, realizing the silence has stretched on. “You look good.”

Gage nods once, a bit jerkily. “Thanks. Same to you, boss - General.”

”Just Kaili is fine,” she says. “This is Hancock, by the way; mayor of Goodneighbor.” Hancock and Gage nod at each other, and an awkward silence descends. Kaili breaks it by clearing her throat. “So, you came back?”

”Yeah, I did,” Gage says. “Traveled the Commonwealth a bit - ditched my Raider gear, found something a bit less conspicuous. Saw what you meant, when you said things had changed. I guess a large part of that is thanks to you, huh?”

Kaili shrugs. “I tend to stumble into situations blindly, and then somehow I make them better and people listen to me.”

”People listen to you because you talk sense,” Hancock interjects. “And because you just demand attention.”

Kaili rolls her eyes. “Either way. Did you visit some settlements?”

Gage nods. “Yeah; even saw one repel a Raider attack. They spotted them coming, sent up a flare, but before your Minutemen even showed up they’d already driven the Raiders off.”

”It took a lot of work, but people trust the Minutemen to back them up, so they’re learning to stand up for themselves,” Kaili agrees.

”Yeah, I saw that.” Silence falls again, but Gage is the one to break it this time. “I made my final decision. That third option still open?”

Kaili feels a grin break across her face. “Of course.”

”Then I’d like to take you up on it.”

Kaili’s grin grows until she’s beaming, and she steps forward, hand held out to shake Gage’s. “Welcome to the crew.”


End file.
